Google Acquires VirusTotal

So Google has acquired Virus Total, the Spanish company which provides the well-known cloud-based free service that analyzes suspicious files and URLs to detect malware, by comparing the results of 42 different antivirus engines and 30 URL scanning services. The news has been given today with a blog post.

Google’s move does not come so unexpected if you consider that Anti-Malware services are moving towards the cloud which is the only way to provide the resources and the holistic perspective needed to analyze the growing number of malware samples (and variants), a task which requires a huge amount of computational resources and a real-time intelligence. To have an idea of the resources needed, try to have a look at the Virus Total Statistics.

On the other hand, the Spanish company has admitted in the blog post that the Virus Total service will undoubtedly benefit from Google’s horsepowers:

The quality and power of our malware research tools will keep improving, most likely faster; and

Google’s infrastructure will ensure that our tools are always ready, right when you need them.

Continuing to operate independently, and to maintain the existing partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts.

And Google? Even if detractors claim that the company will exert a strict control on malware data, the target of the acquisition is a quantum leap in web security, with the possibility to include Virus Total Security Services and Technologies inside the rich service portfolio of Mountain View. Think for instance to real time scanning (with 30 engines) of the URLs in search engine results.

Time will tell who is right, in the meantime keep on submitting malware samples!